Everyone has read about the illegal assault on fighters with the Popular Defense Forces who were targeted by American aircraft and artillery as they were lawfully moving north between the villages of Khushaam and Al-Taabiyya in northeast Dayr El-Zor.

Some reports in the Western Media claim that over 100 “pro-Assad regime troops” were killed by the noble and democracy-loving yanks.

That is not true.

The actual number of fighters killed in the convoy heading north is around 22, with civilians being the largest casualty.

The civilians were accompanying the PDC, for safety’s sake, as they were heading back to their homes.

The U.S. bombed civilians, murdering over 100 men, women and children.

Good show, Uncle Sam. This is the greatest military in the world – a military that has killed more Afghan civilians than any conqueror in history; a military that bombed to death over one million Vietnamese civilians; a military which provides the Saudi chimps with all the ordnance they need to exterminate the poorest nation in the Arab World… … …

According to the statement, the ISIS recently increased activity in the area sparking response from the government forces.

“Shelling of the positions of Syrian pro-government forces has increased during the past days near the communities of Mazloum, At-Tabiyyah and Khsham in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate [Deir Ezzor province], to where the civilian population is returning. Radio interception revealed that the Syrian troops were shelled by militants from an ISIS sleeper cell that had activated in the area,” the ministry said.

A local militia was conducting reconnaissance actions in the area to detect and eliminate the ISIS cell when it was surprisingly shelled by mortars, rocket launched and then the US-led coalition’s attack helicopters. 25 militiamen were injured as a result of the attack.

The Syrian government with support from its Russian, Iranian, and Lebanese allies has embarked on a major military operation to retake parts of Syria’s northern governorate of Idlib. As it does so, the US and its regional allies are rushing to position themselves to ensure the permanent partition of Syria is achieved.

As Syrian forces push deeper into Idlib they have come up against a large amount of foreign-provided weaponry including US anti-tank missiles and even fleets of armored vehicles including Panthera F9 armored personnel carriers – joint-developed by the UAE and Ukraine and manufactured in Turkey.

Despite the formidable arsenal provided to militants – the majority of which fight under the banner of Al Qaeda and its affiliates – Syria and its allies maintain air superiority. The US tried – and failed – to establish what US policymakers have called a “safe haven” or “buffer zone” in northern Syria where US military might could provide shelter for militants from Syrian and Russian airpower… … …

… … …And while US efforts to destroy Syria have fallen short, the US now permanently occupies territory within one of Iran’s closest and most important regional allies. Like a splinter under the skin turning septic, the US occupation will remain a constant potential source of wider infection both for Syria and the rest of the region.

The successes or failures of both Syria and its allies and Turkey in northern Syria over the following weeks and months will determine just how big a splinter is left as the conflict enters its final phases.

Turkey launched the “Olive Branch” military operation against the Kurdish region of Afrin, north-west of Syria. The code name was released by the Turkish Chief of Staff who explained that the operation aims to prevent the spread of the People’s Protection Units and the Democratic Union Party along the Syrian borders with Turkey, which represented a menace to the Turkish national security.

The US attitude towards the Kurds in Afrin was quite interesting, because the US General Vottel declared himself “not concerned about what is happening in the Kurdish enclave in the north-west of Syria” where Washington used the Kurds to attack ISIS. It is no longer surprising that the US look after its interests rather than its allies, as indeed happened in Kurdistan Iraq when Erbil declared its independence; it was promptly abandoned by the US.

But what are the details agreed before the beginning of the operation, allowing Turkey to venture into an area under the Russian control? And how did things get so far, pushing Turkey to venture into an area under Russian influence with military police, and following a clear threat from Damascus to shoot down any Turkish aircraft, with Russia strengthening its positions inside the city the day before the beginning of the Turkish operation “Olive Branch” against Afrin?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The content of this post is of sole responsibility of its author. The team of SyrianFreePress/WarPressInfo do not necessarily subscribe every point of view expressed and are not responsible for any inaccurate statement in this article.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Turkish armed forces have advanced into Azaz region East of Afrin within the framework of the Olive Branch Operation in Northern Syria, a Turkish media outlet reported on Monday.
The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that the Turkish army has continued its ground assault as the Olive Branch Operation entered its third day.

Anadolu said that the army men have advanced into the Azaz region too to expand the scope of the operation.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey would not take a step back from the operation in the Afrin region. He also said that Ankara had an agreement with Russia regarding its military operation against a US-backed Kurdish militia.

Speaking at an Ankara Chamber of Commerce awards ceremony, Erdogan stressed that he wants to support the national security and territorial integrity of Syria as Turkey “has no designs on territories of another country.”~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~The team of SyrianFreePress/WarPressInfo do not necessarily subscribe every point of view expressed and are not responsible for any inaccurate statement in this article. ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~

After negotiations between Russia/Syria and the Kurds of Afrin had failed, the Russian side made a deal with Turkey. Now Turkey attacks Afrin while everyone else looks aside. The main impetus for this development was the announcement of a U.S. occupation in north-east Syria with the help of the Kurdish YPG/PKK. The occupation strategy is already failing. The Kurds made the false choice. They will be the losers of this game.

Turkey is now attacking the Afrin canton in full force. With help from one George Orwell the operation was dubbed “Olive Branch”.

The Turkish operation to go after Afrin was triggered by two events. The more important one was the U.S. announcement of a permanent occupation of north-east Syria with the help of a 30,000 men strong SDF “border protection force” consisting of mainly Kurds and some Arabs who earlier fought under ISIS.

The U.S. move was amateurish. It ignored the security needs of its NATO ally Turkey in exchange for an illegal and unsustainable occupation of north-east Syria. Secretary of State Tillerson tried to calm the Turks by claiming that the “border protection force” was not for border protection.

A second motive for the Turkish operation was the success of the Syrian army in the east-Idleb where “Free Syrian Army” and al-Qaeda Takfiris supported by Turkey were eliminated by Syrian Army attacks… … …

The Syrian war is taking a momentous turn with a full-fledged Turkish military operation on the northern Syrian town of Afrin having begun on Saturday. President Recep Erdogan announced today that a ground operation has also been launched alongside artillery bombardment and air strikes. He said an operation against the town of Manbij, some 140 miles to the east, will follow later.

Afrin and Manbij are presently controlled by the Syrian Kurdish forces aligned with the US. The US, which has 5 bases in northern Syria in the territories controlled by the Kurdish militia, has directly helped the occupation of Manbij by the Kurdish militia in 2016. Thus, the Turkish operation signifies a strategic defiance of the US. Washington had repeatedly urged Ankara against making any military moves against the Kurdish militia.

But what finally proved decisive seems to be the US plan to create a 30000-strong Kurdish force in northern Syria with the intention to use it as a proxy. Erdogan senses that the US is going ahead with the project to create a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria along the Turkish border as a strategic hub for its future interventions in Syria and Iraq. Of course, such a Kurdistan enclave will pose a long-term national security threat to Turkey by giving fillip to Kurdish separatists in Turkey. Erdogan kept pleading with Washington not to align with the Kurds but of no avail and has now decided to take matters into his hands.

Developments may well lead to a confrontation between the US and Turkey… ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ The team of SyrianFreePress [WarPressInfo] do not necessarily subscribe every point of view expressed and are not responsible for any inaccurate statement in this article. ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~

The U.S. is preparing to legitimize the Peshmerga and Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) by declaring several small countries in Iraq and Syria, a Turkish daily reported on Saturday.

Yeni Safak newspaper quoted a commander who held a senior position in the Syrian army for an extended period of time and shifted to opposition ranks in 2013 as saying, “I was told that in the second half of 2018, a total of seven boutique states would be declared in Syria and Iraq”.

“The Americans who met with us told us that they were our allies and that if we followed their conditions the opposition would be more strongly supported in line with the 2012 vision. America’s aim is to enable Israel to gain more of the Lebanon-Syria border and block Hezbollah’s passageway”, said the opposition commander, who highlighted that federal status would be granted along the Golan and as-Sweida line for Israel’s security and the security of the Druze community was a guise.

According to Yeni Safak, the U.S. included:

-the Latakia-Tartus-Damascus line in the Nusayri federal region
-the Sweida-Golan-Quneitra line for the Druze community
-Aleppo, Idlib and Hama were allocated to the Sunnis (in the divisive map plotted by the US)
-al-Hasakah, Northern Deir Ezzur, Raqqa, Manbij and Qamishli to the PKK
-Iraq’s Tikrit-Salah ad Din-Anbar-Falluja for the Sunnis
-Erbil-Duhok-Halabja-Sulaymaniya for the Peshmerga
-Baghdad-Nassriya- Kadisiyye-Najaf corridor for the Shiites

Read on and we’ll tell you.
The media is abuzz with news that the Caliph of Cockadoodledoo is not dead, but alive, somewhere in Syria. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that that area in Syria will be where American forces and allies are operating. After all, what could possibly be more dramatic than Donald Trump’s victory over the modern world’s eidos of evil, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdaadi. His triumph will be greater than Obama’s when the former president basked onanistically in his own self-made glory after assassinating the malevolent, Usaamaa Bin Laadin.

I reported that Al-Baghdaadi was killed 1 year ago by the Syrian Air Force at Al-Mayaadeen. I hold to my report and consider the issue closed. It is my argument that the Saddamist Iraqi officers running ISIS are deliberately concealing his death the way the Taliban concealed the death of their leader, Mullah Umar. If I am wrong, then, I will own up to it. Yet, I can sense the vibrations of falsehood and deceit all around me. Is it possible that the Caliph is the ultimate “one hit wonder”? He has only been seen one time since his sleep-inducing speech at the Al-Noori Mosque in Mosul.

Isn’t it interesting how “sources” emanating from the Kurds in Iraq are trumpeting his rebirth. Why, it would seem the Americans are planning to bomb Al-Raqqa and conveniently find that one of their bombs landed right on the cringing Caliph turning him into thousands of unidentifiable particles. Pieces of his body will be flown to England or Germany where unnamed, anonymous, forensic specialists will be able to “confirm” the identity of this blackguard……………………………………….

Iran, Turkey and Russia have signed a memorandum on the creation of four security zones in Syria during another round of the peace talks in Astana on May 4.

According to the document, security zones were proposed in the province of Idlib, in the area north of the city of Homs, in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus and in southern Syria.

“Guarantors within five days after signing the memorandum will create a working group at the level of authorized representatives to determine the boundaries of disarmament, areas of tension and security areas, as well as to address technical issues related to the implementation of the memorandum,” the text of the document reads.

All technical issues, including borders of the zones, should be solved until May 22. The next round of the Astana peace talks will take place in mid-July when the trilateral group will report about the process of the reconciliation.

If the initiative achieves at least partly success, this will likely mean that in May or June the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allied forces, backed up by Russia and Iran, will launch a large operation against ISIS (ISIL, Daesh) in central Syria, aiming to reach the key city of Deir Ezzor besieged by ISIS. However, these will be possible only if the situation near Damascus, Daraa and Homs will be calm.

The SAA, led by the 105th Brigade of the Republican Guard, stormed the remaining militant defense lines in the southeastern part of the Qaboun district in eastern Damascus and captured a number of buildings from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Al-Rahman Corps……………………….

A Russian military adviser, Alexei Buchelnikov, was killed in Syria by a sniper from the ranks of militants, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on May 2. Buchelnikov was “a member of the group that had been training personnel of the Syrian artillery units.”

Experts note that according to photo and video evidence the Russian military has recently expanded a number of military advisers embedded with Syrian army units as well as intensified efforts aimed at training Syrian military personnel.

These developments came amid a significant increase of the number of U.S. troops and military equipment deployed in the Kurdish-held area in northeastern Syria and embedded with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Meanwhile, Russian military servicemen accompanied with members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have visited the Runbar refugee camp in the Afrin Canton, a YPG-held area in northwestern Syria. Earlier this week, the camp came under shelling from Turkish military forces.

According to more neutral sources, Russian military servicemen are setting up two posts near the border in order to monitor possible clashes between Kurdish militias and the Turkish military………………………

The General Command of the Army and Armed Forces said that the Asayish, the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party, has recently escalated its provocative actions in Hasaka city, attacking state establishments, stealing oil and cotton, disrupting examinations, carrying out abductions, and causing a state of chaos and instability.

In a statement on Friday, the General Command said that these actions took a more dangerous turn as the Asayish encircled Hasaka city, shelled it with artillery and tanks, and targeted Syrian Arab Army positions in it, claiming the lives of a number of military personnel and civilians.

The statement clarified that the recurring attacks on citizens and the Syrian Arab Army are carried out exclusively by the Asayish and are not related to any specific Syrian component, affirming at the same time that it will respond to any such attack by any side and exert efforts to prevent the situation from escalating in order to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and the safety of Syrian citizens.

Fighters from the Kurdish Self-Defense Forces have begun storming the city of Tel Rifaat besieged by terrorists and located approximately 12 miles from the border with Turkey in Syria’s Aleppo province, a source from the self-defense forces said Monday.

“Kurdish fighters began storming the city of Tel Rifaat from the northern flank. One of the largest al-Nusra Front’s stongholds is there. The city is of strategic importance and is on the road leading from Turkey,” the source told RIA Novosti.

The Syrian government has confirmed that its army positions were targeted by Turkish shelling on Saturday, which also hit the positions of the Syrian Kurdish militias in the northern Aleppo province. Turkish shelling reportedly continued Sunday.

The Syrian government has condemned the Turkish shelling of Syrian territory and described it as direct support for “terrorist” groups, Syrian state media reported Sunday, citing a letter to the United Nations.

Turkish troops shell airport and village held by Kurds inside Syria.

The shelling targeted the Menagh military air base and the nearby village of Maranaz.

Kurdish forces and the Syrian Army had taken control of the air base on Thursday.

The Menagh base had previously been controlled by the Ahrar ash-Sham Islamist terrorist gangs, which seized it in August of 2013. Ahrar ash-Sham jihadist mercenaries at the base had been supported by Al-Nusra terrorists and some other gangs of barbarian apes coming from Turkey.

Ahrar ash-Sham is a terrorist gang that has trained teenagers to commit acts of terror in Damascus, Homs, and Latakia provinces, according to data provided to the Russian Defense Ministry by Syrian opposition forces.

The group was getting serious reinforcements from Turkey, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing in Moscow on January 21.

On Friday, Turkey sent troops into Iraq. Contrary to what you might have read, there’s really nothing unusual about that.

As you may recall, Turkey’s military entered Iraq back in September in hot pursuit of PKK “terrorists” Ankara claimed had fled over the border.

Araby al-Jadeed, citing an unnamed Kurdish security officials, employees at the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan, and an official at one of three oil companies that deal in IS-smuggled oil, says that once Islamic State oil “is extracted and loaded, the oil tankers leave Nineveh province and head north to the city of Zakho, 88km north of Mosul…

…but the point is that it seems extraordinarily convenient that just as Russia is making an all-out effort to expose Turkey’s role in financing Islamic State’s lucrative oil operation and also to destroy ISIS oil convoys in Syria, that Ankara would dispatch troops and two dozen tanks to the exact place in Iraq where some reports suggest the heart of ISIS’ Iraqi oil operation lies.

The Turkish parliament has ratified a motion to extend the mandate for military operations in neighboring Syria and Iraq in an alleged attempt to fight the rising threat of terrorism in the region. Units of Turkish special forces have crossed into northern Iraq in “hot pursuit” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants after a deadly attack on the army.

Turkish fighter jets have carried out a massive operation against the positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group in northern Iraq, killing up to 40 of its members, a report says.

By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya (strategic-culture.org – globalresearch.ca) ~ A war is being fought for control over Western Kurdistan and the northern areas of Syria, including three de facto Kurdish enclaves there.

The fighting in Western Kurdistan is a means to an end and not a goal in itself.

The objectives of gaining control over Syrian Kurdistan and northern Syria are critical to gaining control over the rest of the Syrian Arab Republic and entail US-supported regime change in Damascus.

The Syrian government rejected the suggestions coming from Ankara and Washington for foreign ground troops on its territory and for the establishment of a northern buffer zone. Damascus said these were intentions for blatant aggression against Syria. It released a statement on October 15 saying that it would consult its «friends».

In context of the US-Turkish invasion plans, the Turkish government was monitoring the reactions and attitudes of Russia, Iran, China, and the independent segments of the international community not beholden to Washington’s foreign policy objective. Both the Kremlin and Tehran reacted by warning the Turkish government to forget any thoughts about sending ground troops into Syrian Kurdistan and on Syrian soil.

The Syrian government knows that Washington’s anti-ISIL coalition is a façade and that the masquerade could end with a US-led offensive against Damascus if the US government and Pentagon believe that the conditions are right.

On November 6, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that Syria had asked the Russian Federation to accelerate the delivery of the S-300 anti-aircraft surface-to-air missile system to prepare for a possible Pentagon offensive… … …

NOTICE TO READERS

These infos are not intended to be shocking or to glorify violence in any way. These articles/images/videos are for educational purposes only, for documenting and try to explain the backdrop of a historical ruthless and bloody war, whose characteristics and details are routinely distorted and smothered by the dominant media.